Question How do you punish people who are in the "duck state"?

[Durango]

For example, Kitana's square wave (the fly across the screen) and Mileena's teleport kick both leave them safe from standing attacks. They're free to duck and block, leaving me with limited options.

F4 is an overhead, but it's too slow. They can D1 me out of it. Grabs are also an option, but they not only do little damage, they too can be stuffed by D1. Is there any other way to discourage or punish a crouching block?

 

[Mechacide]

d+1 into Clone first? Cross-up punch?

You can punish Kitana's Squarewave with a Slide. It's rare that she lands right next to you anyway, so Slide is generally the best option.

Mileena's telekick is only safe if she pauses and throws sais (to my knowledge), which gives you enough time to uppercut under the sais, or d+1 xx Freeze or something. I don't know for sure, I'm afraid. Every Mileena I've ever fought has always done sais straight over my head, allowing me to 2,2 xx Freeze or b+1,2 into juggle.

 

[Bidu]

I've never ever played against Kitana or Mileena (I only play offline with friends and championships), but have you tried 2,1,2~freeze or b1,2~freeze?

 

[Durango]

I've never ever played against Kitana or Mileena (I only play offline with friends and championships), but have you tried 2,1,2~freeze or b1,2~freeze?

No. As Mechacide was talking about sais passing over his head, these ones still hit me at block height. I'm tempted to try the uppercut option, but given how slow Sub-Zero's is, I'm worried about risking it. And for that matter, EX Telekick-Sais always makes her so safe I can't even D1/D4 Ice Clone. She blocks for a split second before rolling or starting a high-priority combo.

I also have a similar issue with Sektor's EX teleport.

 

[Mechacide]

Don't b+1,2 xx Freeze, you get more dmg just by doing b+1,2, 2,1,4 xx Slide.

And EX Tele is only punishable if you block it ducking. But it costs meter, so I wouldn't worry about it too much, really.

Just push Mileena to the corner. She has so few options there. She has nothing to threaten you with except chip-dmg, so just play it patient.

 

[DanX4]

Regarding the Mileena's Tele into sais, it might be possible to D1 followed by 2,1,2~freeze and so on. I haven't tried it, but it looks like it could work...

 

[Ravox]

Don't b+1,2 xx Freeze, you get more dmg just by doing b+1,2, 2,1,4 xx Slide.

And EX Tele is only punishable if you block it ducking. But it costs meter, so I wouldn't worry about it too much, really.

Just push Mileena to the corner. She has so few options there. She has nothing to threaten you with except chip-dmg, so just play it patient.

You can't b1, 2 + 2, 1, 4 Slide. Two separate strings, they can block in between. Unless they're stupid.

Don't b1, 2, Freeze cuz it's fucking slow, unless you hit confirm it.

 

[GUTZnGORE]

I believe he meant go for b1,2 - 2,1,4 slide if she hits the tele but misses the sais.

If Mileena misses the sai after the tele, you could go for b1,2 2,1,2 slide or 2,1,2 ice ball, dash, b1,2 2,1 slide.